With a plot and twists that are not uncommon in typical films or shows of the action thriller genre, “The Night Agent” does, at times, seem unoriginal. However, out of the few attempts it makes to keep itself fresh for viewers, the one that works most, in my opinion, is the way in which it presents its characters. Mostly without exception, the characters that are central to the plot in “The Night Agent” are all marked by some flaws or negative traits, no matter what their intentions are.
To begin with the protagonist, Peter Sutherland himself, what holds the young man back is his very last name. Peter is always vexed about the tainted public image of his father, Peter Sr., who had been found guilty by the FBI of having collaborated with foreign spies. At a young age, during his teenage years, Peter had to live through the experience of having his house turned upside down by FBI officials in their search for evidence. He had then also had to experience the fear and shame of having his father dragged away by the authorities for political treason. Lastly, he also had to lose his father from his life totally, as Peter Sr. was found dead in a car accident before his court trials began. All of these experiences left a deep and hurting imprint on our protagonist, Peter, and the man grew up with a straight intention and desire in life. His decision to join the FBI itself was borne out of this determination—to investigate the allegations against his father and prove them to be false. Instead, this belief of Peter ultimately turns out to be false, as President Travers reveals at the end that Peter Sr. had indeed committed treason. It is not that Peter’s conviction in his father’s innocence leads him to make any wrong or regrettable decision. Rather, it is perhaps because of the situation with his father that Peter is easy to convince for Rose when she starts to question the FBI and the White House authorities. In a way, therefore, the usual blind faith that a federal agent has in authority is missing in Peter because of his past experience with the FBI. He is also obviously nudged and helped towards this perspective by Rose, but the man does at least give her a chance to explain herself.
Rose’s character is more positive than negative, just like Peter’s. She is thrown right into the center of this long series of dangerous events, with murderers looking for her when she takes shelter at her aunt and uncle’s house. The fact that Rose hardly ever believes anyone straight up or that she takes her time to trust people is directly linked to her own past. After having founded a cybersecurity company, the woman learned a lesson against sharing too much information with a close friend, as someone she knew well enough had hacked into her company, resulting in a huge financial and reputational loss. Because of this, Rose had even had to file for bankruptcy, giving up all her properties and assets, and was now having to live with her uncle and aunt. Therefore, when the White House and FBI authorities tell her about them being her protectors, she does not believe all of it so easily. There is also the fact that Rose had just heard her closest relatives discuss the possibility that there was a traitor inside the White House who had been devising a terrorist plot, and she obviously grows even more suspicious of the authorities. This distrust itself can be considered a flaw in Rose’s character, along with her habit of easily stealing or shoplifting items, which she admits she has been doing from a young age. However, just like Peter, the negatives in Rose’s character also do not get her into any trouble or serious situation per se. Instead, they are used as skills by the duo to get away with their following plan of exposing the Vice President.
Ever since Peter and Rose had been spending so much time with each other, a romantic relationship between the two could already be predicted. “The Night Agent” is, after all, not the kind of show to pass up on such an opportunity, either. But the show does actually put some time and thought into establishing the reason for such a relationship. Rose is an extremely lonely person in life, and she is greatly affected by this solitude too. The only relatives and even close friends that the woman had were the now-murdered uncle and aunt, beyond whom Rose did not have any friends either. It could be that she did have contacts before as the CEO of a company but lost all of them after the scandal. While Rose did manage to live her life amidst the busy schedule of running a company, the total lack of work or professional engagement in life seems to affect her a lot now. Added to that is the fact that she can be killed at any moment by dangerous criminals looking for her, making Rose even more vulnerable to her emotions and feelings. After making the call on the Night Agent telephone and getting helped by Peter, Rose’s first feeling for the man is a sense of security, as she starts to see Peter as her only protector. Then gradually, as she keeps asking Peter to visit her and talk to her, their relationship keeps developing. Rose admits to Peter how lonely she is in her personal life, and this begins the first stage of their relationship, which is further developed when Peter has to trust Rose completely as the two go fugitive together. There is, of course, a certain level of expected forcibility on the part of the series to bring these two characters together as a couple, and this is further felt at the end of the series when Rose and Peter seem to be a complete couple who would support each other no matter what.
“The Night Agent” provides a reason or backstory behind its negative characters, starting with the White House Chief of Staff, Diane Farr, who gets involved in the conspiracy only to save her good friend, President Travers. Diane’s character and her motivations convincingly match those of a high-ranking diplomat, as she does not mind doing evil in order to achieve something that she feels is good. In order to save the reputation and position of her good friend Michelle Travers, Diane does not mind getting innocent people killed, like the Campbells, and then risking the lives of others when her associates plan a second assassination attempt on Omar Zadar. She is only again alarmed and active in stopping the high-risk assassination attempt when she is told of the fact that President Travers will also be dying in the bomb explosion. Diane admits that she has been no less than evil and therefore deserves death, but Rose decides an even worse fate for her by keeping her alive and therefore ensuring that she would receive legal punishment for her actions. The fact that Diane has been moving away from her usual, presumably good self is felt by her close friend Michelle too, as the President removes her from crucial meetings. Diane initially had the utmost trust of Peter as well, when the situation seemed like Peter was trying to choose between a mother figure in Diane and a girlfriend figure in Rose. Ultimately, this ends badly for Diane, as she has to reveal her true self and her involvement in the cover-ups, which then also allows Ashley Redfield to publicly announce that Peter Sutherland was the kidnapper of his daughter Maddie.
The two Secret Service agents, Chelsea Arrington and Erik Monks are also rather enjoyable to watch as their characters are gradually explored. Being part of the Secret Service, there is always the obvious risk of having to give one’s life in order to save some politician or diplomat. In fact, Erik Monks had even faced such a fate when he had to stand in the way of an assassination attempt on the previous President, getting shot instead of the POTUS. Although Monks was hailed a hero, the pain and further complications of being shot did not go away, and this is something that both he and Chelsea keep discussing throughout the series. But nonetheless, Chelsea enjoys her work more than the risks it poses, and she is also closer to Maddie than the girl’s own father. Chelsea is initially curious about why a distinguished agent like Monks is made part of the security detail of the vice president’s daughter. But as she gradually learns of the man’s recovery from the gunshot wound, which got him addicted to drugs, and then his attempts to stay away from drugs for the sake of his daughter, Chelsea grows more respectful and helpful towards her partner. Although Monk loses his life during Maddie’s rescue mission, Chelsea still keeps on at her job as a Secret Service agent. Perhaps the fact that she could genuinely help someone like Maddie spurs her on to do better at the same job. Ultimately, when Chelsea is offered the job of being part of the President’s security detail, she only takes a second to agree to it.
In the end, “The Night Agent” draws a comparison between the two father figures, which is evident in the fact that the 10th episode is titled “Fathers.” We get to see only one of these fathers, which is Vice President Ashley Redfield, while the other one, Peter Sutherland Sr., mostly stays unseen. Despite all his evil and questionable plans of assassinating a rising opposition leader, Redfield seems to realize the mistakes he had committed with his daughter Maddie. Having always been stern and controlling of the girl, Ashley also pinned the blame of his younger daughter’s death upon Maddie, whereas the accidental death had taken place because of his own negligence. When the man finds out that his behavior has grown tremendous animosity in Maddie’s mind against him, Redfield seems ready to change his ways. However, the character redemption that was expected in the end does not take place, as the man keeps on with his selfish plans of replacing the President and forces Maddie to be a part of the whole conspiracy. On the other side is the other father, Peter Sutherland Sr., who, too, had committed his fair share of political treason and conspiracy. But unlike Redfield, Peter Sr. was also ready to right his wrongs and try to mend the damage he had done to his country. This was why he had agreed to work as a double agent and get details about the foreign spies who were buying FBI information from him. Therefore, a sense of redemption does arrive in the case of Peter Sr., at least in the mind of his son. In the case of both these starkly different fathers, the redemption in question is not just with regards to their individual children but also with regards to their nation as well.
What Happens To Each Of The Characters At The End Of ‘The Night Agent’?
To sum up the fates of each of the central characters that we followed in the ten episodes of “The Night Agent,” Peter and Rose are a good starting point. Since President Travers survives the assassination attempt because of Peter’s bravery, she decides to reward him with the two best possible accomplishments. First is that Peter is told the complete truth about his father, and then he is also made a Night Agent himself. This means that instead of having to receive emergency calls in the underground office and put them through to agents, Peter will now serve as a secretive spy himself, looking into matters directly ordered by the President. But this new role also means that he will have to travel frequently, as happens right away when Peter takes a private plane and receives a briefing about his first Night Agent mission once the plane has crossed American airspace. Rose is personally thanked by the President for her contributions too, and in the end, Rose stays behind in the US, suggesting that she and Peter will remain a couple. If a second season of “The Night Agent” is made, we can expect to see Peter Sutherland somewhere overseas as part of his new assignment.
As for the main antagonists, Diane Farr has a change of heart and realizes her mistake of having teamed up with Redfield and Wick when she gets to know of their secret plan of assassinating the President. Diane helps Peter and Rose reach Camp David, but this is not enough to undo her mistakes, especially for Rose since Diane had been involved in the murder of Rose’s uncle and aunt. Diane is kept alive at Camp David, awaiting the authorities to arrest her since their whole scheme is now out in the open. Vice President Ashley Redfield also faces a similar fate when he is found hiding in the bunker and pretends to be surprised at the bombings, which he himself had planned. Redfield had earlier told his daughter Maddie how the President needed to be killed and had expected the girl to stick with him in the safety of the shelter. But Maddie had lost all her trust in her father for quite some time, and she abandons him now to do what is right—try to save the President. It is clear that Maddie then turns on her father, meaning that Ashley Redfield is arrested, too, and will be punished for his crimes. Although the two characters are not directly seen as being punished, it can be expected that such a fate awaits them. In the case of the third perpetrator, Gordon Wick, what happens to him is unclear, for we do not see him in the end. Wick had always set things up from the background, hiring the assassins Ellen and Dale and also the bomber Colin, all three of whom had died. Wick possibly flees the scene and the country the moment he finds it too risky, owing to the fact that his private military operations are based overseas. In a possible second season, Gordon Wick can also be expected to return unless it is revealed that he, too, has been caught and punished.
Chelsea Arrington, the Secret Service agent who played a crucial role in the ending too, is finally offered her dream assignment—to be on the security detail of the President herself. Chelsea agrees to it with great enthusiasm. The fate of her partner Erik Monks is very grimly different from hers, though, as the man is shot dead by Ellen during the rescue operation of Maddie Redfield. Based on how Chelsea is as a character, she might keep in touch with Monks’ family, especially his daughter. Chelsea had thoroughly enjoyed keeping Maddie safe, and the two remain close friends. Maddie announces that she will probably go to Italy to pursue an academic course that she has always wanted to do.
